Category: CEO

A great deal has been said about how the information revolution changed society. Starting in the 80s and leading up to the present day, the internet, digital tech and mobile tech have all drastically changed the way we eat, live and play. While these facts are impressive, something remains to be said about digital transactions. While they are decent, especially compared with even 10 years ago, they still have a long way to go.

Blockchain technology holds the promise of changing the world in a much different way. Serge Belamant, one of the progenitors of blockchain tech, is working with a company called Net1 to forever change the blockchain and debit card worlds. Net1 has technology that uses the blockchain to process transactions. Their proprietary technology gives this company a massive free cash flow in the fintech space.

The stock of Net1 is currently undervalued, and if it remains this way the companies own free cash generation will give it the ability to purchase all of their own public shares sometime before the year 2023. This means the stock has a great deal of upside potential and will potentially make the right investor millions of dollars. Serge Belamant and Net1 are going to change the payment processing game forever.

What makes this technology so radically different than others is the ability to process secure blockchain transactions on the go. Serge Belamant envisioned a payment processing system that works with minimal overhead costs. This means no costly computer servers or point of sale machines. Net1’s technology can run on a small, battery powered unit that does not need to be connected to the internet.

This tech uses EMV or European/Mastercard Visa systems and can be accepted just the same as debit or credit. Instead of using a central system to verify transactions, the card uses blockchain distributed ledger technology to process transactions instantaneously and without an internet connection. This means that this Serge Belamant technology can be used in many, many more places than traditional credit card readers. Rural areas, areas without internet, and many other places are ripe for this revolution.

Wes Edens is a success story in the world of investing. Wes Edens started out his career with earning a Bachelors degree in finance and business administration from Oregon State University and going on to working at Lehman Brothers in 1987. He was a partner and managing director at Lehman Brothers until 1993. He went on to work at BlackRock Asset Investors as a partner and director until 1997. After his time at BlackRock Asset Investors, Wes Edens went on to be a founding member of the Fortress Investment Group. Learn more at newfortressenergy.com about Wes Edens

The Fortress Investment Group is where Wesley Edens is living out his dream career as a principal investor, leading director, and founder. Fortress invests into infrastructure, transportation, healthcare, real estate, financial services, and media. The investment group is currently working on an investment project into a train style transportation system in Florida that is estimated to be about $3 billion.

In 2014 Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry purchased part ownership of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team from Herb Kohl. They paid about $550 million for their part of the team. They were able to make the purchase after promising to keep the team located in Wisconsin and that they would build a new arena for the team to play at. This proves that even though Wes Edens is a heavy hitting investor, he is also willing to invest into an underdog team. The Milwaukee Bucks have not had played in a championship in nearly a half of a century. His investment into the underdog team has paid off for him though, with the value of the ownership now at about $1.075 billion. The Bucks have benefitted with a new stadium and more attention with Wes Edens being a part owner of the team. In a stunt to get more attention for the Bucks, Edens asked his 18-year-old daughter Mallory to be the team’s representative for the NBA draft lottery. The move gave his daughter and the team quite a bit of attention from the media during the draft lottery.

GreenSky Credit has emerged as one of the top-growing companies in the fintech industry. And this has happened amid a collapsing landscape for many of the players within the sector. While OnDeck and Lending Club have crashed and burned in a heap of toxic ashes, GreenSky has soared, reaching a valuation of more than $5 billion and doing about that number of new loans every year.

Making it work by doing what works

The problem with so many of the Pollyannas of the fintech sector was their starry-eyed adherence to business models that had virtually no chance of ever working. While going after social-justice oriented goals may seem appealing for those who would like to change the world, such philosophies rarely turn out well in the ruthless global marketplace.

OnDeck and Lending Club thought that they could change the world too, that they would be the ones who would finally impose rigorous equality among all of the lending industry’s clients. Why couldn’t homeless transients who had never held a job own a 5,000-square-foot mini mansion? And for that matter, why couldn’t people with felony records and no income be extended small business loans on the same terms as prime borrowers? These were the questions that perplexed the founders and executives of many of GreenSky Credit’s wayward competitors. And these riddles would ultimately be answered by the age-old ruthless and decisive method, testing them in the free market. The resulting short-bus cliff dive is a matter of record now.

But David Zalik and GreenSky Credit had a far more sober and clear-sighted view. Zalik decided that GreenSky would concentrate only on proven lending strategies. Rather than trying to reshape the industry to some twisted Marxian image, Zalik would use technology to do more of what was proven to work. By following this strategy, GreenSky Credit was able to quickly impress lenders across the nation, easily convincing them to partner with the company in extending loans to borrowers who, on average, had FICO scores in the 760-plus range.

The result has been a company that gets a 6 percent fee from retailers while receiving a 1 percent annual carrying fee from lenders. The firm’s success continues unabated.

If you want the definition of poetic justice in the form of success- think of Whitney Wolfe, founder and CEO of Bumble, a woman’s empowerment app. She was also a keynote speaker at the Forbes #30Under#30Summit further proving this is a woman to watch out for. At a time where dating apps are the most popular apps around, Whitney Wolfe decided to be the unique knife to slice at the completion. Given the trajectory of her career path it is little wonder that the app has now reached 34 million registered users and amassed an impressive $100 million in revenue since its 2014 launch.

Whitney Wolfe had her “humble” beginnings as cofounder and vice president of marketing at Tinder. However after the 2014 public drama involving ex boss/boyfriend calling her degrading names and slurs and subsequently enduring insults from those on social media, she finally took the time for herself by going to Texas to plan her next business moves and where she subsequently met her husband.

Wolfe reportedly says, “She is just too busy to harbor resentment towards anything and anyone.” Proving that what Beyonce said is true:”The best revenge is “your paper”

This is not to say that Whitney Wolfe’s path to centimillionaire was seamless and smooth sailing. The 28-year-old start-up business woman had to think about who her core audience should be: Women. Next, she received an email from Andrey Andreev, born in Moscow, who’d founded Badoo, an online dating network with registered users in 190 countries. With his initial investment of $10 million and lending his experise to her, Wolfe has now packaged a goldmine.

According to Forbes.com, The Bumble app woks by having two members of opposite sex swipe right for a match and the woman then delivers a message to her suitor first- so she makes the first move before a date.

So, how does Bumble empower women?

By giving them options, freedom of choice, and by restricting foolishness to allow for pure romance to take place.

TeenSafe is an application that allows parents to monitor and discover what their teens driving habits are like. Statistics show that teens are the largest group to experience a fatal crash when it comes to distractions while driving. It’s no secret that parents worried about their teen drivers and especially their use of their smartphone when behind the wheel. It’s very important to teach your child defensive driving techniques. There are a list of driving education courses teens can access online, however, they may not provide defense and self-awareness techniques need when they get on the road. It’s much more than just passing a test and understanding the rules.

Now several organizations have begun to offer driving instructions that also involve defensive techniques. It’s been found that driver’s ed is not teaching drivers how to maneuver on water nor are they showing teens how to safely drive in dangerous conditions. This also includes dealing with and negotiating dilemmas that can arise when it comes to traffic. Throughout all of these situations, young drivers must understand how to react when confronted with these issues while on the road. A panicky driver can create a dangerous situation and possibly a fatal crash. When a teen has proper knowledge and the know how to handle these experiences they will become a better driver.

Often times parents do not have access to the driving courses to show teens how to navigate through these problems. What they can do is take their teen to an open parking lot after bad weather and teach them how to handle their car during this kind of weather. They can also help them with decision-making regarding sliding or emergency skidding. A defensive driving checklist looks like this:

The TeenSafe application is designed to give parents peace of mind. They get to know that their child is obeying the rules while they are driving. It is an efficient monitoring service that keeps parents up-to-date on how and when your child accesses their smartphone and they are on the road.

We have all heard the expression, and song, “This is a man’s world,” but in this day and age woman can be found making that baby spin! Ruth Erickson is the leading lady, and the founder of the IC Systems and a significant part of their success is because of her competence, diligence and work ethic. Her legacy continues to influence the company today. Ruth’s legacy began in 1938 when she started the company with her husband, Jack. She was very hands on and played a vital role from the very beginning which was rare in that day and age for a woman to have such a dominating presence in the decision making of corporations. Back then a woman was mostly seen and not heard.

Like most of the working woman in today’s modern world, Ruth had additional responsibilities beyond her regular job that forced her to multitask and get several things accomplished. She not only did she do her regular job, and do it well, she also took responsibility for communicating with the consumers through letters. The people in the office who new Ruth personally was always impressed by how many letters she would write on top of her usual job. This drove business upwards and ultimately led to the companies success.

In today’s business world the achievements of men are amplified and usually talked about more \so it is nice to see a company give credit where credit is due. IC Systems continues to thrive today and they show no signs of slowing down or fading, They have a predominant presence in their field and their reputations exceeds them. Ruth was a pioneer of that day and age, and she can set an example for the woman of today’s business world. There are no ceilings, the sky is the limit.

Custom Companies Inc was established by Perry Mandera, the pioneer of a company that is now helping others in making transportation easy. He founded the company as commitment to his family and community. Having graduated from the local, Chicago School, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and went on tour before being assigned to serve at the motor pool. That marked the beginning of driving lessons. He specialized in truck-driving. It was after his honorable discharge that he founded Custom Companies. Today, he is identified with this company. Here is more on what Custom Companies does.

Background

Custom Companies Inc is a successful transportation company that serves thousands of clients. These clients range from small companies to Fortune 100 firms. Yearly, it registers more than 200 million in terms of sales. It has also employed hundreds of workers.

Location and Services

Situated in Northlake, IL, Custom Companies Inc has additional offices and employees in America. Apart from that, it offers a broad range of services including domestic, international freight, truckload, local cartage, logistics, and contract cartage. Following the success of this company, Perry Mandera was recognized as the ”Top 100 American Transportation Personnel in 2000. He also serves as the head cheerleader of this department.

Contribution

Today, Custom Companies Inc is a major donor to the Chicago community. Under its leader, Perry Mandera, it has become the major energy dispenser and financial services provider for many charitable organizations. The company has focused its proceeds towards children as well as youth organizations. Some of these organizations include The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation as well as The Jesse White Tumblers. In both, Custom Companies is the sponsor.

Observation

The foundation of Custom Companies Inc was based on providing relief to the community. Most fundamentally, the company has supported victims of natural disasters including those who were struck by the tornado in Washington in 2013. Other people this company has supported include the victims of wild fires of California. Through these projects, Custom Companies Inc gave life to Custom Cares, its affiliate. Currently, it continues to offer transportation services alongside supporting the community through its donations.

Johanan Rand is the famous founder of Healthy Aging Medical Centers that are located in New Jersey. He is a rehabilitation doctor, physical medicine and also a great Physiatrist. He is a former student of the famous Einstein Medical Center in New York, United States. His work is practicing Peer-Review Medicine. He has been known for his considerable efforts towards ensuring that he helps as many people as possible achieve in their career. He has been on the first lane doing thorough research when it comes to matters relating to his profession. He is very optimistic and passionate about his career journey and has helped a lot of people attain their goals in life. His star of success has continued to shine all through.

Johanan Rand is also a great author who writes great and educating journals relating to his career. He always prescribes treatments to think he is very sure of. The thing that he later puts on medical articles and journals. His work has always been backed up by thorough investigation and professionalism.

Johanan Rand is very understanding, kind and also very sensitive to patient’s health needs and also their concerns. He is so humble to them and always listens to them before planning on the best treatment methods and procedures. He is a renowned fitness and health expert and has become a great role model for his clients. He has been able to help them attain their important goals in life. He is passion driven and has always been motivated by the art of high commitment and success.

Johanan Rand is currently working on his new book by name, ’it is too late to live past 100’. He is basing his facts on a well-researched report and has focused his skills on the best career advancement. His passion has been to succeed in his career and have always dedicated his life towards greatness in life. He has a contagious motivation and enthusiasm and prides himself towards making many people reach their health goals. His programs emphasize on supplements, bio-identical hormones, nutrition and also fitness.

Any serious investor knows how valuable financial information is. Receiving proper advice and strategy are crucial components of successful investing. Founded in 1999 and operating out of Baltimore, Maryland, Stansberry Research has been offering an arrangement of suggestions, strategies, and guidance for those in the investment world. Their multifaceted approach gives their company depth and diversity. Risk management is an integral part of any investors equation. Stansberry Research puts their subscribers at ease by not holding back any information and identifying key investment possibilities. The company’s model is built on forming a long lasting rapport with their patrons. Establishing genuine relationships is a primary goal for them as they do not seek to earn money from trial subscriptions. Allowing all of their proposals to be publicly analyzed each year shows the transparency and answerability of this company. Investors want to know the advice they are being given is sound and has proven to be so in the past, so this public track record is vital and assuring. “Treat others how you want to be treated” is the motto of their business. Their subscribers feel secure with the customer service they receive and knowledge they attain. Not serving as advisors or brokers, Stanberry Research provides publications that inform their subscribers as thoroughly as they’re able to. The suggestions they make are based on the vigorous research they take part in. The firm provides updated notifications on every major stock market worldwide. Some publications only release information monthly, however Stanberry Research provides opinions and information daily as well as weekly. The investors geared conferences that this company sets up gives an even more in depth analysis of the information they supply through their publications. Their customers hold them in a high regard and this is because they deliver every time. The Diversity of what they publish leaves something for every investor to look into.

Paragon Biosciences is a biotechnology incubator and an investment organization which was established with a significant purpose of helping individuals with an illness that lack treatment options or therapies. Jeff Aronin is the Chief Executive Officer of Paragon Biosciences and is known for his commitment to helping those suffering from rare diseases. Paragon’s portfolio companies use advanced research methods to discover new innovative approaches to developing treatments and medication. Ever since the founding of Paragon Biosciences, they have invested heavily in helping their portfolio companies exceed. Despite the groundbreaking techniques for treatment studied and used in the medical industry, Jeff Aronin wants to make a difference in the industry by taking innovation and biotechnology to higher levels.

Through Paragon Biosciences, Mr. Aronin has been using his innovative approach and experience to heighten medical conceptualization for treating patients with rare diseases. Jeff believes that one needs to go beyond the current idea to treat conditions. Paragon Biosciences works together with a team of experienced researchers and who are passionate about studying new treatment methods. Paragon also aids its portfolio companies in ensuring they are staffed with world-class researchers and medical experts who are dedicated to developing innovative treatments for a specified illness. Each of the organizations is independently led although they are part of the Paragon Biosciences portfolio of companies. Paragon Biosciences is a known name in the biotechnology industry and through Jeff’s Aronin leadership and his team of researchers and experts they have overseen the development of 14 drugs which have been approved by the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

For over 20 years Jeff Aronin has been working in the biotechnology industry. Jeff Aronin is passionate about biotechnology and even though his organization prides itself on being among the top companies in the industry, Jeff is not satisfied simply by FDA approvals. He’s more concerned with the lives of the people those drugs help improve or save. Mr. Aronin has invested heavily in research and development of novel drugs and is committed to helping patients in need.